Violent offender orders, which place "massive restrictions" on some offenders when they leave prison for up to five years, come into force this week, the deputy prime minister, Harriet Harman, is to announce on Wednesday.

The orders, similar to a sex offender order, give the power to the police to apply for a violent offender to be banned from visiting certain places, attending certain events or contacting specified people for between two and five years after they leave prison.

They must also tell the police if they move home, change their name or travel abroad, and a breach of the terms of the order can attract a prison sentence of up to five years.

The detailed operation of the new orders is being announced at the same time as the allocation of £3.2m funding for sexual assault referral centres and rape crisis projects around the country.

But an expected announcement of new moves to reform the law on rape by Harman has been postponed as talks are still going on with the solicitor-general, Vera Baird, over the exact terms of reference.

The police minister, David Hanson said that violent offender orders (Voo) would prove a valuable tool to help protect the public and disrupt offending behaviour: "Voos will build on other public protection measures and reduce this risk so the most violent offenders can be managed beyond the end of their sentence or probation."

The civil orders are one of the last elements of the 2008 Criminal Justice and Immigration Act to be brought into force. Their passage through parliament was controversial with judges and civil liberty campaigners criticising them for placing "massive restrictions" on the movement, freedom of association and liberty of individuals who were not being sentenced.

The orders are preventative and will apply to over 18s who have served at least 12 months in prison for a serious violent offence including GBH or malicious wounding. The police are to be asked to carry out a risk assessment of the likelihood of the individual committing a further violent offence. Among the new tools they will use will be Sara – a sexual assault risk assessment – which includes a checklist designed to screen for risk factors for those likely to assault their spouse or other family members.

Police can then apply to a magistrates court for an order imposing restrictions on who the individual can contact, where they can go and what events they can attend. In an urgent situation they can secure an "interim order" immediately and the court hearing will follow later.

It is expected they could apply to 300 to 450 individuals a year. The guidance to police forces issued this week suggest they could prove paticulary useful in domestic violence cases and assaults on women.

However the council of circuit judges criticised the proposal during the passage through parliament saying that the police should not be allowed to apply by themselves for such sweeping orders on people are not actually being sentenced for a fresh offence.

The details of the extra funding are spelled out in an update on the government violent crime action plan which is published today.